Freddie Mac purchased $44.1 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in June, the GSE’s best acquisition month of the year and a sign that loan production is strong.
Not only did Freddie’s purchases soar by 43% month-over-month, but HARP acquisitions led the way. “Total single family purchases and guarantees in June include an increase of $8 billion in HARP loans,” the GSE said in its new monthly activity report.
June marks the first time the secondary market agency disclosed its Home Affordable Refinance Program efforts. Introduced late last year, the HARP 2.0 initiative streamlines the refi process for GSE borrowers to refinance loans with loan-to-value ratios above 80%.
Freddie officials declined to disclose the dollar amount of HARP loans the GSE bought from its lenders in May. But the GSE confirmed that the June figure topped the May total by $8 billion.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently reported that Freddie servicers completed nearly 67,500 HARP refis in May, including 18,650 underwater loans with LTVs between 105% and 125% and another 2,950 loans with LTVs above 125%. The GSE regulator did not provide dollar amount of those HARP loans.
Refinancings comprised 70% of Freddie’s mortgages purchases in June, compared to 72% in May.
Freddie also reported that the issuance of $45.8 billion of MBS in June compared to $28.9 billion in the month prior.
The serious delinquency rate on Freddie’s single-family mortgage portfolio edged down 5 basis points from May to 3.45% in June.
